The second came on perhaps the biggest play of the game, when Nick Foles found Zach Ertz on a slant on third-and-7 with 2:21 to play. Ertz made a run for the end zone, got hit, and dived for the touchdown. He lost the ball after entering the end zone, however, recovering it after it bounced in the air.

The play gave the refs a difficult decision to make: Was Ertz a runner, in which case he just needed to break the plane to make it a touchdown, or was he a receiver, in which case he needed to control the ball to the ground? He clearly did not do the latter, so then the question became whether Ertz made two steps and a football move to make himself a runner.

After a long review, the refs decided that Ertz was indeed a runner and that he had broken the plane and scored a touchdown.

The Eagles went up 38-33.

Here’s the play:

On the ensuing drive, the Eagles came up with a crucial strip-sack on Tom Brady that gave them the ball back and later allowed them to kick a field goal that put them up 41-33.

The ruling may have stung Pittsburgh Steelers fans, who saw the Steelers get a regular-season touchdown overruled on a very similar play against the Patriots (though in that case, tight end Jesse James appeared to be a receiver, rather than a runner).

This year’s Super Bowl was a classic, yet the NFL can’t be happy that the game came down to a controversial and confusing rule. During the NBC broadcast, the analyst Cris Collinsworth had previously exclaimed “I give up!” when the referees ruled that Clement had scored a touchdown. The ruling on Ertz’s touchdown seemed less controversial, but fans could quibble with the call nonetheless. And Clement’s touchdown ended up playing a big part in a game decided by eight points.

The NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, has said he would like to rewrite the catch rule, but that pressure may be magnified now that the NFL’s biggest game came down to, “Was that a catch?”